'We're getting in the game': Cumberland Co. teachers prepare to welcome back students to classrooms
HOPE MILLS, N.C. (WTVD) -- The countdown is on as the school year in Wake, Durham, and Cumberland counties begins on Monday. The excitement is palpable at Gallberry Elementary in Hope Mills as teachers are busy getting ready for the first day.
"They think we're there just enjoying our little summer but we're actually preparing for our little darlings that we love so much," said Randrea Scavella, a second-grade teacher at Gallberry Farm Elementary.
"We're getting in the game. We're getting back in school. We're getting into the routines and the procedures and the fun," said fifth-grade teacher Erin Keller.
Cumberland County Schools says about 47,000 traditional students will be walking into classrooms on Monday, joining the 3,000 who have already been in school year-round.
"I don't care how many years you've been in education," said Gallberry Farm principal, Dawn Collins. "You get the sense of excitement. If you don't get excited about kids coming in, you really should not work in this school."
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Teachers tell ABC11 they want students to feel welcome and at ease in their new classrooms.
Keller said she looks forward to meeting her new students.
"I look forward to also, you know, getting back into especially reading novel studies, doing all those fun things with them and trying to open their minds to all the things, possibilities they can have with having a really great education," she said.
Keller said learning loss after COVID is still a problem.
Scavella said she has also noticed her students have been less independent than their students from before the pandemic. However, one development that keeps her motivated is that she says today's children appear to be more perceptive and complex thinkers.
"These kids in this era now, they are showing you so much more and more ways to solve maths, so you have to get out of that one way of thinking," Scavella said.
Anyone looking for more information about the year at Cumberland County Schools can visit the county's website.
